Walker may scale back road plans for Three Mile Road

WALKER -- Tight finances have the City Commission considering a scaled-down version of an estimated $7 million project to widen one mile of roadway and reconstruct a bridge.

Commissioners directed staff to pursue a new version of the Three Mile Road NW and Indian Mill Creek bridge work, with an anticipated $1.4 million price tag.

The revised scope puts on hold a goal to replace the Coopersville/Marne railroad bridge over Three Mile that would allow the road to expand to five lanes from Elmridge Drive NW to Walker Avenue.

The new plans involve lengthening the four-to-two-lane taper on Three Mile by 250 feet, improving a sag in the road, adding sidewalks and replacing the creek crossing with a new concrete arch that can accommodate five lanes in the future.

Also, the pavement along Three Mile from Elmridge to Walker would be replaced with new asphalt, expected to extend road surface life by eight to 10 years, city engineer Scott Conners said.

The revised plan means the city must sacrifice $2.5 million in grants that would've aided the larger project, including $2 million that would've helped fund the railroad bridge replacement. A $480,000 Congestion Mitigation Air Quality grant would have allowed the city to reconstruct the Walker-Three Mile Road intersection to allow a dual left-turn lane for eastbound Walker to northbound Three Mile, Conners said.

Still in question is a $1.1 million regional bridge authority grant for the Indian Mill Creek component, City Manager Cathy Vander Meulen said. City officials plan to plead their case with authority representatives on Oct. 14.

"The (City) Commission understands the importance of maintaining infrastructure," Vander Meulen said. "It's becoming more and more difficult to do that as we look at ways to reduce our budget."

Vander Meulen said Walker is absorbing a significant hit in 2008-09 income taxes, which represent about 65 percent of the city's yearly revenues. A 6 percent drop from anticipated revenues meant $600,000 less for the $14 million budget, she said.

"If we make the assumption that the economy is not going to improve any time soon, or if there is an improvement, there is going to be a lag in how the city is going to benefit from that improvement, we're thinking we're pretty much going to end up in the same situation in the current fiscal year," Vander Meulen said.

Slimmer improvements will reduce the city's bond payment by about two-thirds, Vander Meulen said. On the high end, the city's contribution was expected to be $2.2 million, but the trimmed plan reduces the necessary match to $288,500, she said.

Conners said the longer four-to-two-lane taper still will address safety concerns. Between 15,000 and 17,000 vehicles travel the targeted section of Three Mile daily, he said.

According to a 2008 Walker Police Department study, the corridor has averaged between 15 and 20 crashes annually over a five-year period, Conners said.

"We believe that we're addressing a traffic issue," Vander Meulen said. "We've had some accidents in that area, (and) we think we'll be improving the safety with that project."